9.2 Memory fails to register

I've just installed 9.2 in my machine which had 1 gig of main memory.
Since there were two blank slots in the memory area, I decided to increase the RAM
by filling them. I inserted two 512mb chips in the two blank slots, but my machine
seems to recognize only one of them. I checked the slots and the chips seem to be
properly seated. The chips I inserted are the same type as the originals. What did I do wrong?

Is himem support turned on in the kernel?

Originally posted by 69_rs_ss@Apr 9 2005, 11:28 AM
Is himem support turned on in the kernel?

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Thanks for your prompt reply.

I don't know if it's turned on or not.
How do I find out?
And how do I turn it on if it isn't?

Originally posted by trumpace@Apr 9 2005, 02:34 PM
I've just installed 9.2 in my machine which had 1 gig of main memory.
Since there were two blank slots in the memory area, I decided to increase the RAM
by filling them. I inserted two 512mb chips in the two blank slots, but my machine
seems to recognize only one of them. I checked the slots and the chips seem to be
properly seated. The chips I inserted are the same type as the originals. What did I do wrong?

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I'm assumming that you mean you're not seeing the new memory checked during the POST (Power On Self Test) when you start the machine. What kind of motherboard is it? Some of the AMD64 boards have problems dectecting 2GB or more in when using more than 3 slots and using double sided simms. Couple of things to try. Put the new memory in the old ones 'A' slots alone to be sure they work. then put the old memory in the 'B' slots. Also check to be sure the your motherboard manufacturer has approved the memory that you are using for 4 slots.
You're first going have to get the motherboard to see all the memory before Linux will.

Originally posted by c_dog@Apr 10 2005, 08:58 PM
I'm assumming that you mean you're not seeing the new memory checked during the POST (Power On Self Test) when you start the machine. What kind of motherboard is it? Some of the AMD64 boards have problems dectecting 2GB or more in when using more than 3 slots and using double sided simms. Couple of things to try. Put the new memory in the old ones 'A' slots alone to be sure they work. then put the old memory in the 'B' slots. Also check to be sure the your motherboard manufacturer has approved the memory that you are using for 4 slots.
You're first going have to get the motherboard to see all the memory before Linux will.

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No, I'm not seeing the memory checked during the POST. It happens too fast on my machine
to be able to check it there. I see it after the bootup, when I look at the main memory on the
info screen.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW-P with 2 Athlon. 2400+ MP CPUs.
The memory slots are identical with no markings. The memory chips are all
Kingston KVR266X72C2/512, Remember that the machine recognized one of
the two new chips I installed, which is why I assumed that the problem is with
the Linux kernel rather than with the motherboard.

I located a file in the machine, part of the 9.2 distro, called: /usr/include/asm/highmem.h,
which could possibly be used to increase the amount of memory permitted.
The comments in the file say it will increase the permitted memory up to 64GB.

My problem is that I don't know how to configure it or how to turn it on.

Thanks a lot for your response,

Larry

I think the SuSE default kernel comes with himem turned on. It always "saw" my full gig of RAM. Without it, Linux only "sees" 880 MB (IIRC). It does have two levels though, if my experience with Vidalinux can be applied, an up to 2 GB setting, and a up to 64 GB setting.

To see if your machine is 'seeing' all of your RAM, go into BIOS (usually by holding down the del key on boot) and turn on diagnostic boot or it might possibly be called Fast boot, in which case you'd disable it. This will let you see BIOS count up RAM when you boot. In fact it usually does it (3) times by default on many boards. If your machine does not see all of your RAM on boot, it is a hardware issue with your RAM or slots, or as mentioned previously incompatibility. What motherboard is it?

Originally posted by harryc@Apr 11 2005, 12:56 PM
To see if your machine is 'seeing' all of your RAM, go into BIOS (usually by holding down the del key on boot) and turn on diagnostic boot or it might possibly be called Fast boot, in which case you'd disable it. This will let you see BIOS count up RAM when you boot. In fact it usually does it (3) times by default on many boards. If your machine does not see all of your RAM on boot, it is a hardware issue with your RAM or slots, or as mentioned previously incompatibility. What motherboard is it?

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I tried 4 times to see the BIOS count without success. I hit the delete key when prompted but the
machine goes right into the Adaptec RAID BIOS and then into bootup.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW-P using 2 Athlon2400+ MP processors.

Thanks, harryc, your point about checking the memory in the BIOS first is a good one, but I don't
seem to be able to get into it. I was able to get into the RAID BIOS, but that didn't show any
memory count.

What happens if you just hold down the delete key while powering on the machine?

It might also be one of the function keys. I generally just bang on every key on the upper 1/3 of my keyboard until the BIOS comes up.
Im pretty sure thats what all the A+ certified tech gurus do.